This year Deep Silver is releasing Dead Island Riptide, the second installment in the Dead Island franchise. And as it is with most new releases, the publisher has created, for lack of better words, a bad-ass collector’s edition for their game releasing on April 23.
The US collector’s edition is called Rigor Mortis and comes in a travel suitcase packaging, a zombie hula girl bobble figurine, a severed hand bottle opener/fridge magnet, and a bungalow key with a wooden tag.
However, it is the European collector’s version that has people talking. The Zomie Bait Edition is available for a limited time in Europe and Australia. The game comes with a gory bone-protruding armless and headless torso figure of a woman wearing a British flag themed bikini.
On January 15, Deep Silver revealed the Zombie Bait Edition, and immediate criticism followed. Deep Silver was quick to respond with an apologetic statement released on Twitter.
“We sincerely regret this choice,” the company said. “We are collecting feedback continuously from the Dead Island community, as well as the international gaming community at large, for ongoing internal meetings with Deep Silver’s entire international team today. For now, we want to reiterate to the community, fans and industry how deeply sorry we are, and that we are committed to making sure this will never happen again.”
This is a very different statement than the one Deep Silver sales and marketing director Paul Nicholls gave in the product’s announcement on January 15. At the time, he said not only was the statue fitting, but it was “utterly Dead Island” and one that would “make a striking conversation piece on any discerning zombie gamer’s mantel”.
It is not clear if Deep Silver still plans to release the Zombie Bait Edition or if the package may be altered in some way. Updates will follow when more information is released.
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